Southampton City Centre
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Southampton City Centre is the commercial and organisational centre of the City of Southampton, and the transport hub of the city. Because Southampton is on the South Coast of England, the city centre is not at the geometric centre of the city, but at the southern extremity.
The traditional heart of the city is the High Street, which runs from the Town Quay to the Bargate, which was once the northern gateway to the walled city. As the city grew, this primary commercial area spread to the north of the Bargate, into Above Bar Street. Subsequent reclamation of land from Southampton Water to the west of the High Street meant further expansion in that direction, forming an area now known as West Quay and dominated by the modern WestQuay shopping centre. When it opened, WestQuay was the largest city-centre shopping centre in Europe, with around 100 shops.
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[edit] Culture
There are several museums in the city centre, especially around the "Old Town" area. The museums include the Tudor House Museum, Merchant’s House Museum and the Maritime Museum.
[edit] Shopping
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The main shopping district of the city is centred around Above Bar Street (part of which is pedestrianised), London Road, High Street and East Street. There are several indoor shopping centres in the area, namely West Quay, The Mall Marlands (formerly named Marlands Shopping Centre), Bargate and EaSTreet. As an attempt to ensure the whole city centre is not dominated by chain stores, the city council have designated East Street a "speciality shopping" district. West Quay Retail Park, not to be confused with the similarly named shopping centre, is also located in the city centre. The Mall Marlands was opened on 5 September 1991. It currently has a branch of Matalan as its flagship store, and in 2005-2006 the centre was revamped By adding an improved entrance at Above Bar Street and a new information desk. The shopping centre formerly featured a series of fountains but these had to be put out of service due to health and safety reasons in late 2005.
[edit] Transport
Southampton Central railway station is located in the north west of the city centre area, with the old Southampton Terminus in the south east. There is also a new coach station on the West Quay retail park, a short walk from the railway station. Ferry services operate along Southampton Water to Hythe and Cowes.
There are two main termini for bus services. As the biggest operator, First uses stops around Pound Tree Road, and occupies a lot of space there. This leaves the other terminal of West Quay available for other operators. Uni-link passes West Quay in both directions (except the U2 which terminates at the Civic Centre), and Wilts and Dorset drop passengers off there, terminating at a series of bus stands along the road. Once back in service, buses turn round and pick up passengers at West Quay again. Certain Bluestar services also do this, while others stop at Bargate and some loop round West Quay, stopping between Bargate and Pound tree Road. Brijan Tours services also stop at Bargate.
[edit] Gallery
 The historical Bargate in the city centre is surrounded by modern shopping developments. |
 WestQuay Mall, Southampton's newest and largest shopping centre |
 Platforms at Southampton Central station |
 The Civic Centre |
 Part of the waterfront. The West Quay shopping centre can be seen on the left, with the spires of St Mary's and St Michael's churches. Spectators line the shores of Mayflower Park. |
.jpg/120px-Arundel_Circus_(8).jpg) Another view of West Quay. The West Quay bus stops (see above) are in view in front of the single decker bus and in the other direction behind the double decker. The Bargate stops are right of the picture. |
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